LR 8384
Nonresident Missouri-Licensed Professional Filing Requirement
February 27, 2026
Dear Applicant:
This is a letter ruling issued by the Director of Revenue under Section 536.021.10, RSMo, and Missouri Code of State Regulations 12 CSR 10-1.020, in response to your letter dated January 14, 2026.
The facts as presented in your letter ruling request and in a subsequent telephone call are summarized as follows:
Applicant is a nonresident telehealth professional who holds a Missouri Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) license in order to provide telehealth services to Missouri clients remotely. Applicant resides and physically practices marriage and family therapy in another state. Applicant has only a small number of clients physically located in Missouri. The total income resulting from these clients exceeded $600 in both 2024 and 2025. Applicant performed all services for these clients exclusively on a remote basis using Applicant's office located outside of Missouri.
Applicant's business of providing telehealth service is operated by Applicant directly as a sole proprietorship, and is not a limited liability company, partnership, S corporation, C corporation, or any other kind of business entity. Applicant has no employees, business-related property, or other income-generating activity associated with Missouri apart from the Applicant's provision of telehealth services to Applicant's Missouri-based clients. Applicant has sufficient income that, in the relevant tax years Applicant is required to file a federal income tax return.
ISSUE:
Is a nonresident individual subject to the annual Missouri individual income tax return filing requirement, if the nonresident: holds a Missouri MFT license, operates a sole proprietorship exclusively outside of Missouri, generates more than $600 in income from the provision of telehealth services remotely to Missouri-based clients, has no other income-generating activity associated with Missouri, and is required to file a federal income tax return?
RESPONSE:
No. A nonresident individual is not subject to the annual Missouri individual income tax return filing requirement if the nonresident who holds a Missouri MFT license, operates a sole proprietorship exclusively outside of Missouri, generates more than $600 in income from the provision of telehealth services remotely to Missouri-based clients, has no other income-generating activity associated with Missouri, and is required to file a federal income tax return.
The annual Missouri individual income tax return filing requirement is primarily set forth in Section 143.481, RSMo, which requires that:
An income tax return with respect to the tax imposed by sections 143.011 to 143.996 shall be made by the following: [...]
(2) Every nonresident individual who has a Missouri nonresident adjusted gross income (Missouri adjusted gross income derived from sources within this state) of six hundred dollars or more, or a greater amount as prescribed by the director of revenue and who is required to file a federal income tax return[.]
The key language above is that income, in a sufficient amount ($600 or a higher amount prescribed by the Director) must be "Missouri nonresident adjusted gross income [,]" that is, "Missouri adjusted gross income derived from sources within this state[.]"
Under Section 143.181.1, RSMo, "Missouri nonresident adjusted gross income shall be that part of the nonresident individual's federal adjusted gross income derived from sources within Missouri[.]" More specifically, it is the sum of:
(1) The net amount of items of income, gain, loss, and deduction entering into his or her federal adjusted gross income which are derived from or connected with sources in this state [...]; and
(2) The portion of the modifications described in section 143.121 which relate to income derived from sources in this state, including any modifications attributable to him or her as a partner.
Under Section 143.181.2, RSMo, income "derived from or connected with sources within this state are those items attributable to: [...] (2) A business, trade, profession, or occupation carried on in this state[.]" Under Section 143.181.5, RSMo, "[i]f a business, trade, profession, or occupation is carried on partly within and partly without this state, the items of income and deduction derived from or connected with sources within this state shall be determined by apportionment and allocation under regulations to be prescribed by the director of revenue."
Therefore, whether Applicant has derived income from Missouri sources for purposes of the return-filing requirement depends on whether the income is attributable to a business, trade, profession, or occupation carried on in Missouri. No regulation addressing the apportionment of income from a profession carried on partly within and partly without Missouri has yet been promulgated under Section 143.181.5, RSMo. Here, Applicant is physically located at Applicant's office outside of Missouri when performing telehealth services for Applicant's Missouri clients, operates the sole proprietorship exclusively outside of Missouri, and has no other income-generating activity attributable to Missouri. In light of the foregoing, Applicant's profession is carried on wholly outside of Missouri and Applicant's income is therefore not derived from sources within Missouri for purposes of determining Applicant's Missouri return-filing requirement. Applicant is not required to file a Missouri individual income tax return under Section 143.481, RSMo.
Applicant's letter ruling request mentions Section 324.010, RSMo, which requires that an MFT license be suspended if the licensee "is delinquent on any state taxes or has failed to file state income tax returns in the last three years[.]" This statute does not change the conclusion stated above. In this context, the reference to a licensee who has failed to file state income tax returns entails that the licensee failed to comply with a legal requirement to file a state income tax return. "The conduct prohibited by section 324.010 is plain from its language-failing to pay taxes or file a tax return when obligated to do so under Missouri law." See Crum v. Vincent, 493 F.3d 988, 994 (8th Cir. 2007) (emphasis added).
As a practical matter, nonresidents holding a Missouri MFT license are highly encouraged to file a Missouri individual income tax return, even when not required to do so by statute. The Department need not assume that a licensee's non-filing was proper when notifying a licensing entity under Section 324.010, RSMo, concerning a licensee's failure to file state income tax returns. Likewise, in the absence of a Missouri individual income tax return, the Department may estimate the nonresident licensee's Missouri individual income tax and send notices based on that estimate. Sections 143.571, 143.961.1, and 143.971.2, RSMo, generally give the Director the authority, subject to Missouri's jurisdiction, to require nonresidents to provide information, render statements, keep records, and even make returns. The Director's exercise of that authority is distinct from the annual Missouri individual income tax return requirement.
This letter ruling is binding upon the Department of Revenue with respect to Applicant for three (3) years from the date of this letter and is subject only to statutory changes by the General Assembly and to changes in the interpretation of law by the courts or administrative tribunals. If a change occurs, the taxpayer who relies upon an outdated interpretation may be subject to additional taxes, interest and penalties, which may be imposed prospectively from the date of the change. For this reason, the interpretation set forth above should be reviewed on a regular basis. Please note that any change in or deviation from the facts as presented and inferred above will render this ruling inapplicable.
Should additional information be needed, please contact Legal Counsel Vickie Adiele, General Counsel's Office, Post Office Box 475, Jefferson City, Missouri 65105-0475, email (Vickie.Adiele@dor.mo.gov).
Sincerely,
Trish Vincent